I have a dream, but where do I start?

pooraschurchmice

This is my first post and although I've used this site many times - usually to find best deals on mobiles/utilities/budgetting etc. I'm not even sure if this is the right forum catagory.

I'm 47 fed up with the daily grind to a well paid public sector job in London and have a dream to 'retire' back to Scotland to downsize and get by on less. Either MF or modest mortgage and some small form of income from either B&B or a self catering cottage. That's the dream but I need help to work out how financially I can do it.

I've tried Independent Financial Advisors, they seem able to look at the best financial products but in isolation from each other and struggled with the idea of helping me plan what I can do and when to achieve my dream. What I need is someone who can help me to work out a kind of business plan that will show me how I get from where I am now (property worth approx £320k with approx 60% equity, final salary pension, no savings, no debts, high salary, high expenditure) to that dream in scotland (mortgage free or mortgage/business loan in the £10s and not £100k range, income to cover mortgage/business loan plus modest lifestyle, end of the 8am - 7pm working day).

I have no idea what steps I need to be taking now and in which order. Do I try to get as mortgage free as soon as possible now? At what point do I decide I have got enough equity to sell up? Or should I be saving towards a 'business fund' rather than pay off the mortgage or is there two moves, one to Scotland now and then build up equity/MF to purchase the final dream home/business.

I know this is a tall order and I post this thread in hope rather than expectation of an answer, but I'd really welcome some advice on how to turn this dream into reality.

I know it is against forum rules to recommend individuals, but if there are people who can provide this sort of help ('life business plans') under which subject would I find it in the yellow pages. Independent Financial Advisors was obviously not the right one!

jwil

Hi poor,

I'm not an expert at all, but this is what I would do if I was in your situation.

1) Work on your expenditure - you say you have high expenditure at the moment, if you move to Scotland, you will need to be able to live on a lot less. So you might as well try and cut back on unnecessary spends now and see if you can manage living on a lot less.

2) Work on your savings - if you are going to give up work, you need to have a cushion of savings behind you.

3) Overpay your mortgage - if you are going to sell up and have a smaller mortgage you might as well get rid of as much of yours as you can.

4) Research properties in Scotland - decide where you want to live, what sort of house you want, how much it is going to cost you, and how much income you can get from the B&B or holiday let. If you are likely to need a mortgage you will need to consider how you will get one if you have no guaranteed income.

Now, I don't know if that is decent advice or not, but that is what I think I would do. I'm not sure where to get professional advice, but perhaps a life coach may be something to think about?

http://www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk/

Good luck with it, it sounds like a fantastic dream, and I hope you manage to make it come true!

delmar39

I'd focus on clearing your mortgage so that you can sell up, invest in a property in Scotland and have some cash left over on which to live. Like poster above says, research properties in Scotland. Sometimes the dream isn't quite the same as the reality once you start looking.

This is a bit off the wall, but you could apply to Relocation Relocation - your story read well and you may just make the programme. Better to get the experts involved and Phil is always in the pub so you'll be onto a winner lol.

deankenny

dreams start at home my friend

abouttimetoo

Hi Pooraschurchmice

I don't have the answer i'm afraid but I would recommend reading Cazmanian Minx's diary which is on page one at the minute. Caz's thread is a fab tale of living in London and wanting to move to Scotland and her plans and activities to make it happen. She's as happy as larry in Scotland as we speak despite divorce woes, house sales falling through and lots of other stuff!

Good luck with your plans

Regards
ATT

LilacPixie

Good luck.

Would you actually need the small income?? A B&B is hard work, really hard work. Would you not rather just own outright and then look at something else for a small income?

What area of Scotland are you looking at?

Wobblydeb

pooraschurchmice wrote: »

I have no idea what steps I need to be taking now and in which order. Do I try to get as mortgage free as soon as possible now? At what point do I decide I have got enough equity to sell up? Or should I be saving towards a 'business fund' rather than pay off the mortgage or is there two moves, one to Scotland now and then build up equity/MF to purchase the final dream home/business.

In the short term, the most pressing question is how much your mortgage is costing you, and whether you can earn more if you put money into savings rather than overpaying the mortgage. If you can earn more in savings, save. If your mortgage costs you more, and allows overpayments, then overpay.

trevorsminted

Are all church mice poor? or are you generalising